N.H. Man Thinks Candidate Will Lose Because She Is "Ugly As Sin"

Steve Vaillancourt thinks Marlinda Garcia is hot. Sigh.
 

Call me naive, but I think most of us vote for candidates for office based on how closely their views match ours.

But New Hampshire State Rep. Steve Vaillancourt has other ideas. He really believes it's a beauty contest. A literal one.

Two women are vying for a seat in New Hampshire's Second Congressional District: Republican Marlinda Garcia and Democrat Annie Kuster.

In his NH Insider Blog, Vaillancourt chose the creepiest way possible to describe why he thinks Garcia will win and Kuster will lose.

Here's what he says:

"In New Hampshire's second congressional district, if I may be so bold as to speak the truth, Republican Marilinda Garcia is one of the mot (sic) attractive women on the political scene anywhere, not so attractive as to be intimindating, (sic) but truly attractive." 

He goes on to talk about Garcia's Democratic opponent.

"Let's be honest. Does anyone not believe that Congressman Annie Kuster is as ugly as sin? And I hope I haven't offended sin."

Alrighty, then. I guess this election is settled. At least if this were the Miss America pageant and Vaillancourt was the judge.

I don't think Vaillancourt has the hots for Garcia, because he's openly gay. He just seems to be creepy, mysogynist and catty.

As I understand it, here's Vaillancourt's rules for women considering a career in politics:

Be attractive, but not so attractive as to scare away horny men.

If you're not attractive, immediately give up politics and live out the rest of your life in a cave in the remotest areas of New Hampshire's White Mountains. 

To determine whether you are attractive or not, submit your photo to Vaillancourt, since he's apparently the ultimate judge in these matters.

The Huffington Post reports that to her credit, Garcia said she doesn't exactly take kindly to Vaillancourt's analysis, as it's sexist and all. Says Garcia:

"State Rep. Vaillancourt's recent comments about Rep. Ann Kuster are sexist and have absolutely no place in political discourse. Both Rep. Kuster and I have experienced this unfortunate reality of being a woman in politics. I hope that as time moves forward and more female candidates run for political office around the country, people will focus on the content of our ideas rather than what we wear and how we look."

Good luck with that, Marilinda.  With the large numbers of women in politics these days, I'm still stunned by how many people praise or criticize these politicians' looks, rather than praise or criticize their viewpoints.

For instance, there's lots to praise or criticize Hillary Clinton about, but to this day I keep hearing about her supposedly unattractive pantsuits, as if that matters when she's discussing Middle Eastern diplomacy.

And I recall talking to a few guys back in 2008 who said they were voting for McCain/Palin over Obama because Sarah Palin was quote, unquote, "hot."

By contrast, too bad Palin's brain is so cold, due to it's lack of intellectual firepower.

For what it's worth, Manchester, New Hampshire television station WMUR says latest polls give a slight edge to Garcia over Kuster. But the race is close between Garcia, a Tea Party favorite, and incumbent Democrat Kuster.

My guess is New Hampshire voters will decide based on the two candidates' politics, despite the um, helpful, guidance from Vaillancourt.